Rogers invents new lie about health care reform

Mike Rogers is a liar, but he is even taking the standard lie that the proposed health care reform plan will cancel your private health insurance and put everyone on Medicare even going farther and scaring senior citizens who love Medicare and telling them the lie that they will lose Medicare if the bill passes.

This makes you wonder if there is anything Rogers will not say to defeat President Obama? If Medicare is so bad - the government run health insurance program ran by the federal government - why would seniors be upset about losing it? Why would people then be upset if they went on it?

The Brighton Republican held a "tele-townhall" Wednesday evening because he is too sacred to hold a real townhall like all of Michigan’s Democratic Congressional delegation has, and in a story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Rogers floated the outrageous lie that according to Section 102 people will lose both private health care and Medicare.

Not true. Factcheck says “The legislation wouldn’t require anyone to switch health insurance – though, in most cases, plans would eventually have to meet minimum benefit standards.” Factcheck also says Rogers scare tactic on Medicare is false, saying “And Congress isn’t proposing to cut benefit levels or to deny treatment to anyone who is "not worth the cost."

But I’m not the only one calling Rogers a liar, but they do it more nicely.
“Saint Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital doesn't share Rogers' views on the future of private health care and Medicare, said Tonya Nottmeier, director of Federal Advocacy for Trinity Health, which includes the Howell hospital.”
"Our health system has studied the House legislation and shared suggestions for improvement with many members of Congress. Congressman Rogers' comments do not reflect our understanding or interpretation of the legislation," Nottmeier said.

It doesn’t fit anyone else’s understanding or interpretation of the legislation besides tea baggers.

Rogers then tried to defend not holding townhall meetings like Democrats have.
“Rogers said he's found the phone forum eliminates the "shenanigans" seen at some in-person town halls, such as the presence of organized groups and people shouting down one another.
He said the phone forums have proven more cost-effective, and, unlike public town halls, allows thousands to listen in and participate.”

Did he say "shenanigans?” Well, there is no liberal lobbying group - or any liberal group - putting out a script on how to disrupt townhall meetings or shout anyone down.

Nofs needs Senate seat to pay for green fees and vacation home

Mike Nofs - the Republican candidate for the Michigan Senate’s vacant 19th District seat against Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson - continues to pull the wool over people’s eyes and continues to sell the myth that he is a regular guy and pro-worker.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer held a press conference in Battle Creek Thursday and reveled regular guy Nofs purchased a Lake Michigan beach front home in South Haven, primarily from the proceeds from a sweetheart deal when he sold his land for a dump to BFI Waste Systems of North America for an undisclosed amount of money that he referred to as “higher than market value” when he was a Calhoun County Commissioner.

But his reason for running for the seat is to serve himself not the residents of Jackson and Calhoun Counties. He told the Battle Creek Enquirer when he announced in April that apparently his two public pensions weren’t enough to maintain his lifestyle.

“I felt for the first time how hard it is to live on a fixed income while your expenses keep going up,” he was quoted as saying in an article. Apparently, those expenses include playing golf at the Battle Creek Country Club and beach front vacation homes.

“With two taxpayer-provided pensions, windfall profits from the sale of his land to a garbage dump, and a new vacation home in South Haven, Mike Nofs doesn’t understand the challenges facing the financially struggling families of the 19th Senate District,” Brewer said. “And with wealth like that, it’s no wonder Mike Nofs opposes government reforms such as the disclosure of financial assets of candidates and elected officials.”

Nofs doesn’t want people to know his sources of income. Nofs was one of just 19 House members to vote against a bipartisan public official asset disclosure bill, House Bill 4285, in 2007.

“Nofs has spent his career lining his pockets and putting Lansing special interests ahead of his constituents,” Brewer said. “His advocacy for the garbage industry and for companies which outsource Michigan jobs has paid off handsomely for him, while hurting the people of Calhoun and Jackson Counties.”

Scott to announce plans for rally for fair auto insurance rates

Sen. Martha G. Scott, D-Highlander Park, will formally announce plans for her Sept. 30 rally where citizens from across the state will gather on the Capitol lawn to fight the practice of redlining and the high cost of auto insurance and demand insurance reforms that will allow all residents to purchase fair and affordable auto and home insurance at a pair of press conferences next week.

The first press conference is set for 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8 in front of the Cadillac Building, 3022 W Grand Blvd, Detroit. The second will be at 9 am. Wednesday in Room 405 of the Capitol in Lansing.

“Money spent on insurance – required by law in Michigan – is money struggling families cannot spend on their mortgage, their utilities, and food,” Scott said. “Michigan consumers pay the 12th highest insurance rates in the nation. Detroit consumers pay an average of more than $5,000 a year for auto insurance, the highest rates in the nation. Does that sound fair and affordable to you?”

Scott and other legislators seeking change to Michigan’s insurance laws believe that rates should be set on the value of a person’s home or car, and, for auto insurance, a person’s driving record. Rates should not be set on zip code, education level, job title or credit score – all factors currently used to determine insurance rates.

“I’ve been asking for insurance reform here in Michigan for many years now,” Scott said. “What I want is simple: I want fair and affordable insurance for every citizen of our state, with rates determined by a person’s driving record and the value of their car. That’s not so outrageous, is it? But year after year, I introduce bills that languish and then die in committee without getting a hearing.”

Like the huge crowds that turned out two years ago to plead for reform that fell on the deaf ears of Senate leadership, citizens will again ask for hearings on insurance reform bills now before the Senate, and for votes on those bills. Scott is the sponsor of Senate Bill 166, which would outlaw the practice of setting insurance rates on zip code.

All Michigan citizens are invited to the rally. For information on bus rides from the Detroit area, call Senator Scott’s Detroit office at (313) 372-8567 during business hours after Labor Day. Citizens are also encouraged to carpool to the event or to organize a bus.

Celebrate Labor Day weekend at the state’s only labor museum

Monroe is the place to be this Labor Day weekend, and the highlight of the day is the dedication of the new neon sign at the Monroe County Labor History Museum, in downtown Monroe on Saturday, the only labor museum in the state.

The museum in the historic Phillip Murray Building at 41 W. Front St. - named in honor of Philip Murray, the first president of the United Steelworkers of America - is dedicated to Michigan’s long and rich history of organized labor. Organized labor brought us the weekend, the 40 hour week, overtime pay, workplace safety standards, health insurance, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation and decent wages.

Lt. Gov. John Cherry will be the keynote speaker at 5 p.m., but before that there will be tours, an cream social and a moonwalk beginning at noon.

The Monroe County Council CIO Social and Welfare Association has been working on the restoration and improvement of the only labor museum in the state since 2001, and in February of 2007 it opened for business. There have been monetary donations - and they certainly can use more, but most of the work was done by the donated labor of union skilled tradesmen. It has been a work in progress, and a labor of love.

Bill Conner, the president of the Monroe County Council CIO Social and Welfare Association and the museum curator, said one of the biggest missions of the museum will be to educate children on the role labor has played in creating the middle class and improving the lot of workers; something that has been taken for granted.

But that’s not all of the celebrations going on in in Monroe on Saturday to celebrate the huge contribution of organized labor. A 5-mile Labor Day walk from Sterling State Park to St. Mary's Park will step off at 10 a.m.

The downtown barbecue will begin around noon, and downtown restaurants will set up in tents so festival-goers can enjoy outdoor dining. Music will also start at noon on a stage at E. Front and Washington and go into the night. Also throughout the day, local artists will set up booths to sell their creations and nonprofit agencies will be on hand to tell visitors about their services. There will be face-painting and other activities.

Labor Day is, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. On June 28 1894 Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

Even state Republicans are lying about health care reform

Michigan Republican Chair Ron Weiser is, not surprisingly, lying about health care reform.

In a fundraising letter to supporters, he claims, “Some Democrats in Congress, including members from Michigan, are trying to pass laws to cancel your private health insurance and put your family on Medicare. This is not a scare tactic; it’s the truth.” Sorry Mr. Weiser, it’s the former, and that makes you a liar, and it’s just one of a number of scare tactics the Republicans are rolling out.

According to Factcheck.org: “The legislation wouldn’t require anyone to switch health insurance – though, in most cases, plans would eventually have to meet minimum benefit standards. The bills don’t require anyone to join the federal plan.”

My favorite false scare tactic is the one that claims illegal aliens will be provided free health care at taxpayer’s expense. It seems anytime it wants to fire up the base, Republicans roll out the specter of Mexicans. As the majority of Americans know, it’s just another rightwing lie. According to Factcheck: “That’s simply not what the bill says at all. The bill does explicitly say that illegal immigrants can’t get any government money to pay for health care. Page 143 states: "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."

I also find it very ironic that Weiser chooses to quote my Congressman, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, in his letter who says: “I believe we can do better. The American people deserve real bipartisan health care reform that will lower costs and keep the federal government out of personal health care decisions.” Rogers plan is the status quo that is seeing 11,000 people a day lose their health care, premiums for employer-sponsored coverage have increased 119 percent in just 10 years and health care premiums for family plans have increased 78 percent in Michigan since 2000.
Plus, he’s using the false scare tactic that the government will be involved in health care choices. That’s a lie. According to Factcheck: An advisory committee “would have only the power “to recommend” what benefits are included in basic, enhanced and premium insurance plans. It would have no power to decide what treatments anybody will get. Its recommendations on benefits might or might not be adopted.”

Clearly the system is broken, and all we get from Republicans is kill reform at all costs just to hand President Obama a defeat so they can control something they claim to hate. To make the claim of bipartisanship is also at best disingenuous. Not only am I waiting for Rogers to propose a real plan, but I’m still waiting for him to hold a health care townhall meeting.

All the Democrats have held them, I believe, and Rogers knows there is no Washington, D.C. lobbying groups sending out scripts on how to disrupt Republican townhall meetings, so what is he scared of?

Tobocman named new MPLP Co-Director

Former Michigan House Majority Floor Leader Steve Tobocman, D- Detroit, was named co-director of the Michigan Political Leadership Program (MPLP) at Michigan State University (MSU), part of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR).

IPPSR is a nonpartisan public policy network at MSU dedicated to connecting legislators, scholars and practitioners through survey, evaluation and applied research, policy forums and political leadership briefings. The MPLP program trains Michigan’s future leaders from the entire political spectrum during an intensive nine-month program. Past alumni of the annual program that began in 1992 include Rep. Ed Clemente, D-Lincoln Park; Detroit City Council President Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.; Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel: Rep. Robert Dean, D-Grand Rapids; and Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland.

The co-directors include a Democrat and a Republican, and Tobocman joins Republican co-director Anne Mervenne. Tobocman was named to replace former state Senator and former House Minority Leader Dianne Byrum, who resigned after being elected to the Michigan State University Board of Trustees last November.

Tobocman was term-limited last year after serving in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2003 through 2008. Since leaving the House last year, Tobocman has been managing partner of New Solutions LLC and serves as co-director of the Michigan Foreclosure Task Force.

“I am truly excited about the opportunity to help lead such a respected and proven program,” he said.

Join the Livingston County Democrats for a peaceful counter protest

BRIGHTON – The Livingston County Democratic Party is planning a counter protest to the big money, Anti-Obama partisan “Tea Party Express” bus tour sponsored by the rightwing “Our Country Deserves Better PAC that will be in Brighton on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The farce will make a stop at the Mill Pond in downtown Brighton at 3:30 p.m., and the party is mounting a real grassroots counter protest that will be in sharp contrast to the fake, angry “tea parties” we have been subjected to.

Bring an American flag or wear an Obama pin or tee-shirt. The protest will be rational, and non confrontational.

The so-called “Our Country Deserves Better PAC” was formed in August 2008 by veteran Republican California political consultant Sal Russo and former GOP California Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian. The PAC’s mission is to oppose Obama and the "Democratic Congress." It boasts on its web site that "we must stand up to Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress." The PAC also solicits contributions by stating, "Help us fight the Democratic Congress!"

The stated “mission” of the bus tour is to “highlight some of the worst offenders in Congress who have voted for higher spending, higher taxes, and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses.” What they really mean is Democrats and only Democrats.

They will have no problem drawing a crowd in predominantly conservative Republican Livingston County, but that has never stopped Livingston County Democrats from fighting back. We welcome help from people who care about real health care reform and the environment we must live in.

Renewable energy rally features labor and environmentalists

Coming on the heels of the news of a planned $1 billion conversion of the idle Ford Wixom plant into a massive renewable energy park resulting in 4,300 direct jobs, the BlueGreen Alliance and Repower America are holding a rally for clean energy jobs at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Sept. 2 at the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1299 hall at 11424 West Jefferson in River Rouge.

The rally will be in support of clean energy jobs in America, and more specifically in Michigan. It’s fitting that the BlueGreen Alliance is a coalition of the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Sierra Club and other environmental groups formed in the summer of 2007. The strange bedfellows formed the strategic alliance to pursue a joint public policy agenda that includes stopping global warming, clean energy, fair trade and reducing toxins in the environment.

Repower America was launched in 2008 by former Vice-President Al Gore with an ambitious plan n to "repower" our country with 100 clean electricity and revitalize our national energy infrastructure. Repower America stands for the importance of investing in energy efficiency; clean, renewable and diversified energy sources; a unified national smart energy grid that connects these renewable energy sources to every part of the country; and clean car technology.

Repower America has goals very similar to the BlueGreen Alliance, and they include jumpstarting our economy and create millions of jobs; help end our dependence on foreign oil; reward innovation and job creation, not polluters; and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the threat of climate change.